Sniffer dog nabs smuggler hiding heroin in rectum

Perpetrator admitted hiding heroin in his body, removed pellet containing drugs.

AUSTIN, TEXAS: A man who tried to smuggle heroin into the United States concealed in his rectum was caught by US officials - with the help of a drug-sniffer dog named Malone - as he walked across the border from Mexico.

Paulo Alfredo Macias, 35, was being held in the El Paso County Jail without bond after being caught on Monday at the Paso Del Norte pedestrian crossing with nearly 5 ounces of heroin, officials said.

"Internal body carriers are not common at land border ports of entry so this is a significant seizure," El Paso Port Director Hector Mancha of Customs and Border Protection said in a statement on Wednesday.

Macias, a Texan, had been selected for screening at the El Paso crossing, and the dog helped officials determine he was carrying drugs, the statement said.

In an interview with officials, Macias admitted he had heroin hidden in his body, and he removed an oval-shaped pellet containing the drugs, it added.